ZALES and my horror story my engagement ring!!! a big warning!

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IWearHeels

IWearHeels

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Jul 3, 2007
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#1
I want to address a huge issue I’ve been having with a company Zales. Most people say being engaged is the best thing that has ever happened to them. It’s been the worst for me due to this company’s poor service. I’ve had nothing but recurring problems with their faulty product as well as the Burbank, CA employees. My fiancé bought a heart shaped engagement ring at Zales.com in early January. He then gave it to me Febuarary 14th 2007. Later on, I had it resized which took 2 weeks. I got the ring back and after about 2 more weeks one of the small decorative diamonds fell out. We took it in and that took 3 weeks to fix. We got the ring back and a few more weeks pass and the diamond falls out again! We take it in and they have to fix it which means I am yet again without my ring to show family and friends. This time they decide to just switch the ring out for a whole new one which is horrible because it’s not the same ring he asked me to marry him with. So then we had to get the new one resized and that took another 2 weeks. I get the ring back and within one month the big heart diamond falls out and right then and there I had a nervous breakdown. I kept thinking is this a bad sign for our marriage? We take it in and this time it takes seriously 2 whole months to get it fixed despite being told it would take 4 to 6 weeks. Finally my fiancé goes to pick up the ring and he brings it to me in Northern California where I was visiting family and I take a look at it. I notice right away that the little diamond fell out of the heart on the side of the ring again! We then have to take it back AGAIN. My fiancé takes it in and lets them know how furious he is and they only take 3 days to fix it. This is the last thing that has happened but let me tell you it’s been nothing but hell. Not only was it hell to have this happen to my first engagement ring but customer service was always rude and not very helpful at the Burbank store. When we brought the ring in after multiple visits instead of getting an apology we were treated with suspicion and asked how we clean it. We never had it long enough to warrant cleaning it! .we are not exaggerating. He has even written your customer service online and never received a reply. The whole time I had the ring I only got to wear it less than one month. My friends and family never got to see the ring because whenever they were around the ring was being fixed. This was not only humiliating for me but very humiliating for my fiancé. WHAT HELL THIS WAS> my warning to everyone is NEVER EVER EVER shop at ZALES or ZALES.com their products are horrible quality and they treat you like crap!!!!!!!!! this is a warning to all
 
#2
Oh you poor thing!!!!! I am so sorry you have had to go through all this!:sad: Maybe you should try to take it to another store if you need it fixed again? Write a letter to their corporate office and tell them how bad you have been treated!


I have bought rings from Zales before and never had a problem.. and I am planning on buying my replacement engagement ring from there (I lost my original one).

I hope you can get this resolved and start enjoying your ring and engagement soon!
 
#3
The best place I every bought jewelry from was BillBarnes.com. I bought (or I should say hubby let me pick out) 2 Tacori platinum rings. One was a engagement right (new one for 25th anniversayr)that I wanted a deep blue sapphire center stone and they found the perfect one for me. The other was a new wedding band. Customer service was great and kept me informed with the progress of my rings. They have a great website and I think their store is in NY. I would buy from them over any other jewelry store again, especially the larger chains. I have heard other stories of people being made at the mall jewelry stores. To them you are a number....they just don't care.
Good luck.
 
#5
So sorry to hear...I can imagine how you must feel. Most chain jewelery stores don't have an on site jeweler, hence the wait to have it shipped out, serviced, and returned. I think by swapping out your ring, they must've thought the setting was defective and causing the stones to fall out. I know it's little comfort though. Rude treatment, however, is NEVER acceptable.
 
#6
did your fiance use a credit card for the purchase, perhaps there is some recourse??? american express would deny the charge if it was as you described. this is horrible

just a thought
 
#7
I would seriously consider returning the ring, getting my money back and going to a small local, recommended jeweler and picking out a new engagement ring.

That is outrageous what is happening to your ring! I have had my engagement ring for 15 years and never has a stone fallen out of it! And, I even had it reset 2 years ago into a very different setting than the original and still nothing like that!

Good luck to you-and, yes, if he used a credit card to purchase it-I would get them involved also.
 
#8
That is absolutely horrible (and what a thing to have it happened to)! I had a bad, bad experience w/ Zales too. My dh wanted to buy me a diamond tennis bracelet, and we went to Memphis to a good jewelry store. I *knew* he had no clue as to what a good one costs. When I saw one I loved and he casually asked the price, he gasped at the cost. (We had 2 children in college at the time, and one was studying in London for a semester) So I told him why didn't we just look for one in a mall.

We passed Zales, and behold there was one on sale for wayyy less. I feigned liking it as much as the other, and he bought it for me. I was so touched at his even thinking of a diamond tennis bracelet, so it really was a case of "it's the thought that counts."

I put in on, we drove home, and the white gold bracelet BROKE while I was merely walking down the hall. I didn't hit anything to make it do this; it just fell off my arm into two pieces. We took it back to Zales and they "fixed" it, and like you, we had to go back and pick it up several weeks later. Same scenerio followed. It actually made it through one day and broke again. Now white gold is supposedly strong. If I had been playing football (haha) in it, then *maybe I can see it breaking. But just walking with it on? I'm like you...never again w/ Zales.
 
#9
I'm sorry you had to deal with such rude service. It doesnt mean anything about a bad sign for your marriage, it just happens to be crappy people not taking responsibility for their bad quality items they are selling.

Oh man, I too hate Zales with a passion. I've gotten a ring there a few years ago from my Fiance and no problems, but when we went back there again for an engagement ring (Newark, CA) we got it on sale because it was on like suuuuuper sale. We were still shopping around, but the lady reminded us we can return it. Then the lady took the tag off, and I asked why? What if I wanted to return it, she said their company never leaves the tag on because it's rude to have the price showing to the recipient. She said just to wear the ring, see how it feels, fits, and if it fits me and my personality. Me being so naive, I go home, and wear it for 4 days. I then decide to return it. I go to a nearer Zales (San Bruno, CA) they say we can't return it because it's been worn. I tell them what happened, and theres literally NO skratches or anything. I mean it was 4 days! And I didn't even wear it while touching water, or cooking, or cleaning or anything harsh and abrasive. So the lady tells us they can't return it because it's that stores location rule to not accept returns from any other store. I say thats impossible. They can't just make up store rules, they have to follow the corp. rules. So the lady tells us to call the store we bought it from, we do. And she yells at my fiance saying she doesnt believe that we didnt know not to wear it. Saying none of her workers would tell us such a thing. And that we needed the tag. (the lady cut it and threw it away! how can I still keep it!?) We gave her the name of the lady who sold it to us and gave us false information. Then she hangs up on my Fiance. And we call again, she answers he tells her she needs to deal with this situation, and she says how she busy she is with customers that are there in person and hangs up on him right when he begins to respond. Me being livid as all hell, call her back and she answers, and I yell at her saying how rude and disrespectful she is. Then she hangs up on me before I'm done, and I just break down in tears. Never have I ever been treated so badly in any type of environment. The sales lady at the store I was at saw what was happening and felt so bad. She brought over kleenex and called for me the lady back again. She told me to leave the rings with her and she's going to mail it back to them and make them deal with it. A few day later I'm out of town to SoCal visiting my family and I didnt receive any phone call from the jewelers so I call the customer line, and I deal with it with them. And tell them all the drama. They apologize and deal with it in about 2 weeks. Then they started an investigation on the manager who was hanging up on us from the Newark Zales. Since then, we refuse to ever set foot back into that store. We returned the ring and went to a little jeweler to find a better ring at a better quality. :]
 
#10
I have a feeling this ring will always be a "pain point" for you. Even though you want to keep the ring that he proposed to you with, you can easily have a 2nd proposal with a different ring that makes you happy. I'm not a fan of chain jewelers at all -- I think they are overpriced and their quality is compromised.

We have the Jewelry Mart here in SF, they have awesome prices and fantastic service. Do you have one there in SoCal? If not, I can tell you how to get in the Mart where I live.

Best of luck ...
 
#11
How awful to experience this at what should be a happy time for you. As others said, can you return it and select something from another jeweler?

It sounds like a replay of my dil's ring--the stones kept coming out, repair after repair, and a loooong time afterwards they got their money back and went someplace else. She was glad to be rid of a ring that caused so much trouble and she never knew when she would lose a stone.

They should be very apologetic and want to make it right, but some of the mall jewelers seem to value quantity of customers over quality of service.

Best wishes to you both.
 
#12
aww thank you all for sharing your stories and your moral support. I sent in a letter to Zales corps and got a caLL from them recently with a case number we will see what they do.. I will keep you all posted. I am constantly looking at the ring waiting for another diamond to fall out.. sucks.. But i know i will never purchase jewlery from a chain store again thank you all :smile:
 
#13
OMG. That is horrible!!
Especially to an ENGAGEMENT RING which is supposed to sit on your finger and let you admire it, not have to take it in for repairs!

I too have had a horror story with Zales. I have a bracelet my boyfriend got me a couple of years ago I think it was my 20'th birthday and it is gold and has my gemstone in it and little diamonds in between. Beautiful. Well the gemstones have fallen out several times, and I am SO careful.
With the last time one fell out, I took it to them and they replaced it... and guess what I saw: the gemstone was SMALLER because they had to like WELD it into the little placement it was in and it was all melted looking (the gold part) and it looked DEFORMED. I almost cried right there. How could someone think that looked okay?? I am STILL in disbelief over that. So as I said it's not the first time one had fallen out-- and this bracelet was NOT cheap! As I'm sure your engagement ring wasn't either! The woman helping me looked at it and instantly replaced it. This was earlier in '07 and they still had the model in the store. So about 1.5 years later, she gave me a brand new one. But still, horrible experience.

But I am so sorry about what has happened with your engagement ring... that is so upsetting :sad:
 
#14
Sorry this happened to you.

One girl I worked with owned a $24,000 engagement/wedding ring. She went into Zales one day to shop for Christmas gifts for her family. One of the employees offered to clean her ring while she shopped. When she was finished with her purchases she asked for her ring back. They gave it to someone else!!! She tried to take Zales to court but her lawyer made her settle. They upgraded her main stone to a 2. something carat...not sure of the color or quality. Might be an H or I, anyways.....and remade it to her original setting. Well the main stone kepted getting loose and Zales told her the ring is as is! So she had it fixed elsewhere.
 
#15
^^ this is a lesson, NEVER have your ring cleaned by someone you don't know. My mother had her stones switched by a jeweler (during a "cleaning"), she didn't immediately notice. It only took a few minutes. They put a CZ into her setting.

It was a nightmare, but luckily she wasn't the only one it happened to..there was some sort of class action against them...and she got a replacement. But her sentimental engagement stone was taken.

Did your fiance pay by Credit Card??? (please tell me he did!) I would take this up with them immediately. Zales doesen't want to deal with the credit card companies.

Also, file a complaint with the BBB...if they are a member (doubtful) but it could help you.

Last case scenario, you could take them to small claims court.
 
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